Today is an auspicious day for me as I've been invited to speak with the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party conference about how we can empower communities to support young people.
Whatever about the wisdom of inviting yours truly as a speaker, they've certainly got it right in at least one respect: they've also invited two young people to speak on their own behalf on what it's like to be young in Ireland today. I have no doubt that the freshness of their insights will make a memorable impression on all present.
In this country, we are gradually appreciating the value of hearing young voices and engaging them in the design and planning of services. Young people bring unique perspectives, suggest practical solutions to complex difficulties and don't get caught up in ideological differences that we adults debate endlessly.
It can take them a little time to warm to us, and feel safe enough to open up with their opinions, but those I know want to be heard. They want to be part of finding solutions rather than seen as constantly causing problems.
The UN charter in 1992 - ratified by this country in the same year - set the scene for youth participation when it undertook to protect children's rights including their "right to participate in any discussions that affect them".
In 2000, the publication of the National Children's Strategy, Our Children - Their Lives, echoed the UN charter with the stipulation that "children will have a voice in matters which affect them and they will be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity".
Government in recent years has actually taken very constructive steps to engage with young people in the development of different strategies and programmes. The recent publication, Young Voices, detailed the steps required to involve young people in our services, ethically and meaningfully. The last thing young people want is to be involved in a tokenistic manner, just because of some policy. Participation works only when they feel their contributions are valued and that they will make a real impact on our decision-making as adults.
In spite of policy and organisational examples of effective youth participation, there are those who get very uncomfortable whenever the issue is raised. This is not necessarily because they dislike young people - although this certainly could be the case - but because they have fears for what could happen if they were to invite young people to the table.
In the area of mental health service development, for example, they fear that young people may be too troubled to deal with challenges of participating in an adult forum.
Clearly there are pressures that a vulnerable young person might not be able to take in any given moment and we need to be very mindful of this. One of the ways I have approached this delicate issue is to be very clear with the young person about what is being asked of them, and to take whatever time and offer whatever support they may require to prepare them for speaking in an adult forum. For example, I don't expect of them - in fact, I actively discourage it - to "tell their story". We all have our dark nights of the soul. One of the ways of supporting young people in their recovery is allowing them to move beyond these episodes, and not expecting them to revisit a difficult patch in their past as though it somehow defined their identity.
Being asked repeatedly to tell the story of some bad patch they survived runs the risk of locking them into a constricted identity narrative. Sometimes it's just more helpful to regard these episodes as yesterday's news.
When I ask to hear a young person share their view on some issue, I assume that their life experience has informed their thinking. But it's their current views I want to listen to, what they believe will really matter to any young person confronted with a similar challenge.
What has most surprised me in my conversations with young people is how much they have to say, once they get started. Many of their concerns mirror the same ones we struggle with as adults: Who am I? What the heck am I doing on this planet? Will people still like me if they realise I'm not as "cool" as they think I am?
But some of the experiences and pressures they engage with every day are quite different from what I knew in my youth. I'm frequently reminded that I was never 16-17, at least not in 2007. Which is why we need to hear from them if we are to be sure that our grand plans meet their actual needs in a way that works for them.
Our Government is doing something right today. Credit where it's due. Maybe it will inspire others to do the same, so that youth participation becomes the rule rather than the exception.
tbates@irish-times.ie
Tony Bates is the founding director of Headstrong - The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. www.headstrong.ie